What the Bears need to do at the Combine

The 2011 NFL Scouting Combine is finally here and this important event means a lot to the NFL and the players involved. This event lets the 32 teams in the NFL get an up close and personal look at some of the best college players in the national and can help to be a determining factor in where players go in the draft and which team selects which player.

The Bears will be at the combine trying to find those players that would best suit them as they head into the 2011 season hoping to defend their NFC North title and find some way to get over the Packers and get to the Super Bowl. There are some pretty significant needs on this team including needs along the entire offensive line, the wide receiver position and the defensive line.

The Bears need to pay particular attention to the players in these areas so that they can come out of the draft with some guys that will not only be able to step in and help them right away but also stay with the team. In the past few drafts, general manager Jerry Angelo has struggled to find players that stick around for more than a couple of seasons (see Jarron Gilbert, Juaquin Iglesias and Michael Okwo to name a few) and that has come back to haunt this team in terms of their depth and ability to overcome injuries and get good production.

Angelo is going to have to keep an eye on the players that they need at those key positions mentioned previously. There is a decent enough talent at the offensive line position at the combine and this should give Angelo some start as to finding out who he might want to draft and how the player or players that he is interested in can help the team.

Angelo needs to make very wise decisions about those players that he considers drafting. He can’t get those guys that have injury histories that could cause them problems immediately after they are drafted (Chris Williams). He also needs to make sure that they guys that he chooses fit in the system and can be utilized (Garrett Wolfe has been a guy that the Bears drafted fairly high and haven’t used effectively).

In other words, Angelo needs to throw out all of the things that he has done in the past and change his way of thinking in this draft. If he could do that and get better about drafting and use this draft to help improve the team then he can help position the Bears for another run at the Super Bowl in 2011.

So what players are the Bears going to be interested in? What will they be looking for in at the Scouting Combine? They are going to have concentrate on those areas that we mentioned above and take a look at the top players at those positions (because they have a first round pick in the draft this year after not having one for the past two seasons) because they have the ability to draft top players.

They need to evaluate everyone across the board and find some guys that will help the team right away. This is the big key for this team heading into 2011.